When You're Starting a Business, Everything is for the First Time

Running an agency for years makes the business fundamentals automatic. But starting fresh means every simple task spawns twelve prerequisites, creating a scramble of 700 tiny setup steps.

The business fundamentals come easy after running an agency for twelve years. Contracts, pricing, negotiations, scope definition, LLC setup, all the structural pieces of running a service business are second nature. You know the moves because you’ve been through this rodeo countless times. Within days, the core business infrastructure can be up and running because experience has made these complex tasks feel automatic. The real challenge is that starting fresh means building everything from zero. Every simple action triggers a cascade of prerequisites you forgot existed. You’re not just launching a business, you’re creating hundreds of tiny components simultaneously while trying to serve actual clients. It becomes a mad dash through endless setup tasks, working on client projects during the day and staying up late to build the infrastructure. The gradual client ramp up becomes essential, creating pockets of time to handle the foundational work that would otherwise never get done.

I'm James Archer. This is Why Firms Hire Me.

3 Decades in Marketing 20+ Years in the C-Suite Hundreds of Firms Advised

For nearly three decades, I’ve focused on marketing strategy and business growth. My journey was forged in the real world:

  • I’ve held C-level positions for 20+ years, so I understand the pressures you’re facing.
  • I ran a successful marketing agency for 12 years, so I know the service business grind intimately.
  • I’ve helped hundreds of businesses achieve strategic clarity, from startups to Fortune 500s, so I have deep experience doing exactly this work.
  • My work has been featured in major media outlets, including NPR, The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur.
  • I’ve delivered over 100 speaking engagements and written countless articles on what actually drives business success.